HSJ: I anticipate Holland will have a role with the team, either as general manager or advisor. President and CEO of Ilitch Holdings, Chris Ilitch, gave Holland a vote of confidence at the end of last season. Within the organization, there is very much the understanding that the team is overdue to struggle — when the Wings drafted Michael Rasmussen at ninth overall last year, it was the highest the Wings had drafted since 1991. Teams that have won the Stanley Cup since 2009 all have had at least a second-overall pick on the roster.

Tanking, however, doesn’t guarantee access to picking that high any more. From 1995 through 2012, the only clubs that could vie to select first overall were the bottom five teams in the standings (excepting 2005, when the season was wiped out by a labor dispute. All 30 teams were in the lottery, with anywhere from one to four balls. The Penguins, who had three balls in the lottery, won the right to draft Sidney Crosby). Now the top three draft selections are awarded via a draw that includes all the teams that miss the playoffs. In other words, the team that finishes at the bottom of the standings could end up being pushed back to fourth (as happened in 2017 with Colorado).

What it will come down to is whether Chris Ilitch sees the Wings as being in good shape to regain competitiveness as quickly as possible. They have good building blocks already in Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha and Andreas Athanasiou. Defenseman Dennis Cholowski, their 2016 first-round pick, is having a very good season and could be ready to push for a spot in Detroit as soon as next season. Center Michael Rasmussen, their 2017 first-rounder, was having a very good season and is expected to return either this month or next from surgery.

Imagine, if the Wings end up with the right to draft first overall in June, adding defenseman Rasmus Dahlin to that mix!

Something to note regarding gaining competitiveness, though: it's hard even with high-end picks. The Florida Panthers have missed the playoffs 14 times since 1998, leading to drafting third overall in 2011, second overall in 2013, first overall in 2014 — and they are one point ahead of Detroit in the standings. Since the 2004-05 lockout, the Coyotes franchise has drafted inside the top 10 six times, and has missed the playoffs nine times, including the last five years. Arizona is at the bottom of the standings.

Colorado was Detroit’s contemporary in the late 90s and early aughts. The Avalanche has a lineup that includes the first overall picks from 2006 and 2013, second overall from 2011, 10th overall from 2015 — and the Avs are at the bottom of the Central Division. The Edmonton Oilers drafted first overall in 2010, 2011, and 2012, seventh overall in 2013, third overall in 2014, first overall again in 2015 (netting generational forward Connor McDavid), fourth overall in 2016 — and the Oilers have made the playoffs once the past 11 seasons, and are headed for another miss this spring.

Is having a GM on his final year of his deal a bad things because the Red Wings should be unloading UFA at the end of the year plus shedding some other contacts. Detroit has been playing good lately but the long term plan needs to be draft picks and prospects #HeleneonHockey

HSJ: Drafting and developing is the plan, as it was last season. Holland has not been a buyer since 2015. The Wings have drafted in the first round every year since 2013, and have swung deals to acquire bonus second-round draft picks in 2013 (Tyler Bertuzzi) and 2016 (Filip Hronek). In 2017, the Wings had 11 draft picks. So far they hold nine picks in 2018.

HSJ: I could see Dylan Larkin getting done early, because he’s a fairly known quantity — he’s a 200-foot player who works hard and has shown good consistency dating to the last month of last season. He's future captain material. Anthony Mantha probably would be next — he almost hit 20 goals last season, and this season should get there, if not to around 30. Andreas Athanasiou’s value will be harder to determine — he’s demonstrated of late how incredibly skilled he is, but before that he went 15 games without a goal. So he’s more likely to be a summer signing than in-season signing.